Opposition raps govt for adopting ordinance route on Food Bill

New Delhi: The government`s decision on Wednesday to bring an ordinance to implement the Food Security Bill drew flak from major Opposition parties even as Congress accused them of forcing the UPA into taking such a step after their failure in helping passage of the bill in the last session of Parliament.

As Congress touted the step as "historic", BJP and Left were both critical of the government for "bypassing" Parliament and found support from Samajwadi Party which questioned the government`s "hurry", saying it would turn "bread-givers (farmers) into beggars".

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj wondered if Congress wanted an early election.

"Monsoon Session is due in July itself and the government has recommended ordinance for National Food Security Bill. This is a deliberate attempt to denigrate Parliament. Why this hurry? Are they (Congress) going for early elections?" she tweeted.

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat also attacked the government, saying the bill in its present form has serious flaws and it needed to be revised.

"We have a lot of criticism about the bill (in its present form). We will move amendments to the legislation," he said. BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said UPA government was more interested in scoring some brownie points at the fag end of its tenure.

"They are not interested in having a debate because many facts or many gaps in this bill will be highlighted by all political parties and their own lack of clarity, their own lack of preparedness in presenting a comprehensive well-drafted bill will come out," she said.

Samajwadi Party, which supports UPA from outside, said "bringing an ordinance instead of debating the bill in Parliament was against the democratic spirit of the country".

Senior party leader and its national spokesperson Ramgopal Yadav said the government could have waited for Monsoon Session and pass it after proper debate. His party colleague Naresh Agrawal said the bill would "turn bread-givers as beggars".

Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said the Opposition`s failure to help passage of the Food Security Bill forced the government to go in for an ordinance to give the country`s two-third population the right to foodgrain at subsided rates.